CRASNO1 LAIS. 27 



follow, was discussed with an appetite which even the 

 schnapps could not increase. Then bed was pro- 

 posed, and my friend being a German, and of a 

 certain age, readily fell in with the proposition. Not 

 so the writer. To sit still or go to bed, now 

 when all the longings of one's life were almost 

 granted, hearing the veteran sportsman before me 

 discoursing calmly of the boars that had broken 

 into his enclosure the night before, or the stag 

 which he had shot a few nights before that, was too 

 much for my boyish impatience ; and my kind 

 old host, seeing it, was as pleased at my keenness 

 as amused at my impatience. Going out, he found 

 one of the Cossacks was just preparing for anight 

 hunt, and returning asked me if I would care to 

 accompany him. Of course I jumped at the offer, 

 and was starting forthwith. But my host called 

 me back, and making me leave iny own useless 

 garments behind me, dressed me in a huge pair 

 of felt boots of his own and his fur-lined, much- 

 braided forester's coat. Thus attired, I must have 

 been too much of an attraction for my lazy friend, 

 who shook himself together, and being similarly 

 clad resolved to follow me. 



The Cossack who was to be our chaperone was 

 a sturdy, ill-favoured fellow, in the wildest com- 

 bination of sheepskins conceivable, but he seemed 

 to know his work, and was none the worse for 

 being silent. As we passed down the long forest 



